Silent Student
by sparkshift
Summary: A teacher is supposed to care about their students. So when one is heartbroken beyong expectation, what can a teacher do to help?


Silent Student

I sighed as I walked into the classroom again. Lunch had just ended for the students and my break as well.

Sometimes I could really dislike my job. Most of the kids were obnoxious, pretending to know everything. Well, they kept up their charade until they got back their test scores.

I went to my desk, signaling for everyone to sit down. Almost everyone sat in their seat, and was quiet. Only one girl was already sitting and quiet.

"Please pass in your homework. I hope it's better than yesterday's," I said in a dry voice. Some students quietly talked as they passed in their homework. Only one didn't make any side talk as she passed in her homework.

"Alright, today we are going to talk a bit more on the theories of quantum mechanics. I know we've been working on it all week, but I feel you all could use a bit more work on it before our test next week," I paused, allowing the students to groan. If they thought high school was hard, I couldn't wait to see how they fared in college.

"Now, can anyone remind me who made the first laws about quantum physics?" I asked. One or two raised their hand in an effort to please me, but I knew that they didn't know. I decided to call on someone I was sure who knew.

I walked over to the silent girl, who once had so much life in her. In a kind voice, I repeated my question. "Ms. Swan, could you please tell me made the first law of quantum physics?"

She looked up at me with dull brown eyes. They once had been deep and alive, but now they were sad. I felt horrible for the depression she went through. I had seen how much she had loved Edward Cullen, and he had just left and broken her heart.

"Was it Louis de Broglie?" she said in a quiet, unemotional voice. I nodded and smiled at her. I considered it a large accomplishment if I could get her to speak. It was like she was mute; she was unable to speak in this world.

"Yes Ms. Swan, it is. I'm glad to see that some students pay attention," I praised. She nodded absently, and looked down. I sighed. At least you got her attention for a moment, I thought to myself.

The rest of the class period, I found myself feeling more and more pity for Bella Swan. She no longer had a lab partner, and was forced into more solitude. I knew that she probably was more content that way, but maybe a partner would help her. I couldn't just rearrange the room, though.

"Okay, class. I want you all to write a four hundred word essay on whatever you found most interesting about what we have discussed today," I called out to the class just before it was time to go.

When the hour ended, all of the students got up in a hurry. All except for Isabella. She got up slowly and packed her bag. I knew she was trying to avoid the crowd.

I stifled the urge to reach out to her, to ask if there was anything I could do to help her. But I knew she would say no. If anyone was going to help her, it would have to be her father.

As she walked out of the room, I truly felt pain for another student. I remembered her first few weeks here. She had been very shy and cautious. Soon, however, she seemed to start fitting in, and she grew to understand the pattern of the school. She had grown to be one of my favorite students. And soon, she and Cullen had grown close. It had seemed fitting to me; two of my smartest students together.

I sighed, and prepared for my next class. I didn't have time to worry about a student's social life right now.

At the end of the day, I went to talk to Mr. Varner.

"Oh, hello Banner," he said casually. I smiled in return.

"So Robert, have you noticed any changes in Ms. Swan lately?" I asked carefully. I knew that he didn't care much for his student's problems.

"Oh, yes! She has grown considerably in my class. Always dedicated to her work, spending time studying instead of gossiping with the other kids. I'm very pleased with her," he said proudly. I nodded and said goodbye.

Of course Varner saw it as she was becoming a better student: he probably gave himself credit. I walked to my car.

I wasn't sure why I cared so much. I had had so many students over the years, and never taken such a personal care for them. It was just that Isabella was different. She had been like an angel at the beginning of her career here. She brought the Cullens out of the shadows, and brought together crowds many people thought could coexist. She had found her true love, and then he left her. She had fallen so far that I was surprised she didn't collapse from the pressure.

As I drove home, I knew the only thing I could do. I could treat her kindly and help her finish high school. I only hoped that she would return to the glory she had once had.

Part 2

All day, whispers had been going around. There was even more gossiping than usual in Forks High School. Even the teacher were talking and whispering with each other. And it was all about the same thing.

The Cullens were back.

Some people were happy about them coming back. Some were angry. Most of all people were stressed by their difference, their cool demeanor. They never had fit in, and the peace that they had left was being shattered.

I had heard many teachers complaining at lunch about their return. They never had liked the Cullen children, for being so much smarter than them. Though few would agree, I was one of them. I knew that these kids were above the norm for their generation, and that I had few things I could teach them. It was almost like they had all taken college already, and were in high school only to pass the time.

The only reason I was stressed was because of one particular student. The one who had been affected most by their departure, and would most likely be affected by their return. Isabella Swan didn't deserve another torment in her life. I could guess that Edward had broken up with her, and having to see him again would kill her. As it was, she had been missing for a few days. All her father knew was that she ran off with Alice Cullen, who came back to town early. Who knows where they had gone off to.

I didn't even know if Bella had returned.

So when I walked in after lunch, I was expecting the loud whispering of the students. What I wasn't expecting was Bella Swan and Edward Cullen leaning into each other, smiling and talking in low voices. Two of my missing students were back without a single scratch.

I was even more shocked when I saw her face. In the previous months, she had looked dead; there was no life to her eyes, no color to her skin. Now, however…

Her cheeks had a lively blush to them, and there was life in her eyes. Her face seemed fuller and more alive. She was looking at Edward with complete love and adoration. He was looking back at her in the same way.

As I hid my shock and asked for the students to pass there papers back up, I felt happy. Now I had all of my students here in body and (for the most part) mind. I looked back to the day when I had gotten her to actually answer a question about physics, and the deadness she seemed to radiate. Now there was life.

As I thought this, I saw Cullen wince as I thought of her depression. It looked like he could read my mind, and her pain gave him pain.

As I started to lecture, I found myself having to turn away from the two students in the back. There was so much love between them that I felt like it was too private for me to look.

I never really had believed in true love. Sure, there was the greatness of first love, and the passion of everlasting love, but not true love. All of the Cullens had proven me wrong on that. Almost all of them were couples when they came, and their love seemed so intense I couldn't imagine. And then Bella Swan came, and my shock was ignited once again.

One thing was true: I was glad Isabella Swan got back her music. There would be no more sad silence, only rejoicing sound.


End file.
